African leaders want unity
2005-11-12 20:21
Abuja - Seven of Africa's most powerful leaders met in Abuja on Saturday to discuss binding their troubled continent together in a closer political union.
President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, who chairs the African Union, played host to his counterparts Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, John Kufuor of Ghana and Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade.
Also present were prime ministers Meles Zenawi of Ethiopian and Ahmed Ouyahia of Algeria, along with the chairman of the African Union Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare.
"The call for a 'United Africa' has been around for a long time," noted Kufuour in a lecture address to delegates, officials and reporters on the history of pan-African political thought.
"Some want to go only as far as the European Union, while for others it has to be nothing short of one central government," he said.
"The emerging reality is that the rest of the world is already constituted as political unions or economic blocs.
"The political arrangement that enables Africa to compete to advantage is what should engage Africa," he added, calling for greater co-operation between Africa's 53 countries.
The summit - "Africa and the challenges of the global order: Desirability of union government" - will continue into Sunday, with the leaders discussing the broad principles of integration.
Obasanjo said that among the visions under discussion would be a broad federation with free movement of citizens, economic and monetary union and a common foreign and defence policy.
"The ultimate goals of such a political structure must be that of sustainable development, peace, security, growth, democracy and the transformation of the continent," he said.
Since 1963 the countries of Africa have met under the auspices of the Organisation for African Unity, which was re-launched as the African Union in July 2001.
The Union aims to give all Africans a common parliament, central bank and appeals court - partly modelled on those of the European Union - but some would like it to go further.
Four years ago, Libyan leader Colonel Moamer Kadhafi called for a formal federation dubbed a "United States of Africa", but this idea has been greeted with scepticism in other capitals.
Meanwhile, while AU mediators and peacekeepers have tried to help places like Burundi and Sudan, many African countries continue to pursue bitter regional rivalries.